Tag Archives: frosting

Before, I really thought that I couldn’t bake. The only reason why I thought I couldn’t was my laziness to measure ingredients. I have seen my late Grandma, Mama Peng, bake her very delicious Pineapple Upside Down Cake and I would see all those loads of baking utensils in the kitchen. Just the thought of all that mess discouraged me to learn baking.

I can cook, that’s a fact. And when I cook, I never measure anything I put in the pot or the pan. I just estimate—a little salt here, a pinch of pepper there—and voila, I will end up with a tasty meal on the table! But with baking, I don’t think it will work the same way. Thus, it took me years to try it.

Several years ago, I tried baking simple baked treats like instant brownies and instant muffins. They were “instant” because they were basically in a pack. You put whatever is inside the pack in a mixing bowl, add a little of something like milk maybe, then after mixing, they are ready to put in baking pans to bake. So, no measuring was necessary.

However, two years ago, I was so stressed with life that I had to do something to make myself really busy. I needed anything to do that would keep me from thinking about that certain stress in my life at that time (which I might share with you in another post). Then I thought about baking. I looked for recipes on the internet and asked from friends who I knew were into baking. After deciding which recipe I would bake, I bought the measuring spoons, measuring cups and ingredients from Amazon Japan. Then I started baking!

I got too focused on my baking at that moment.  Too focused actually that, for the first time in weeks,  I haven’t thought about any of my problems. And the best part was: my first baking project, the pandesal (salt bread),  was a big success.

From then on, baking has become my stress reliever.  Lately however, aside from relieving stress, I now also bake for fun or whenever I feel like baking. But most of the time, I bake when the kids request for their favorite cupcakes, cookies, or bread.

The recipe I will share for this post is their favorite cupcake…Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting. I got the recipe somewhere on the net, but I forgot to make a note of it in my recipe book. The cupcake is very simple to make and it is really good. The frosting is a bit complicated, but it tastes so wonderful that you will forget all the hard work you exerted when putting it on top of the cupcakes.

Anyway, here is the recipe…happy baking!

RED VELVET CUPCAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees C (180 degrees F) and line muffin pans with paper cupcake wrappers.
2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in the sugar.
3. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, butter, oil, eggs, food coloring and vinegar until combined.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.
5. Add the buttermilk mixture and stir until just combined.
6. Divide the mixture among the prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes (350F) or 19 minutes (180C) or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not over bake!
7. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely while you prepare the cream cheese frosting.

Now, for the cream cheese frosting….

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat the butter until light and fluffy.
2. Cut the cream cheese into cubes and add to the butter, beating until smooth.
3. Stir in the vanilla
4. Add the sugar one cup at a time, and beating after each addition
5. Add until you get the consistency you like. It should be firm enough to hold its shape.

And these are my finished products…